CASE VWCO

Business: Automobile manufacturer.

Challenge:Ride comfort evaluation of a long combination vehicle using a multibody system model and modal validation with experimental data.

Solution: Development of a complete vehicle model using MSC.Adams/Car to perform ride evaluations. The model includes all characteristics of the front and rear suspension systems, steering, tires/wheels systems, the sprung masses of the tractor, trailer and semi-trailer units and a simplified modeling approach for the trailer suspensions. The modal behavior of the vehicle model was validated using experimental testing data and frequency sweep simulations were carried out using the MSC.Adams/Car software. Taking into account the ISO-2631 standard criteria, several simulations were performed to evaluate the vehicle’s comfort level and the influence of some primary suspension characteristics on the vehicle comfort.

Value: Adjustments of suspension systems characteristics were proposed in order to improve the vehicle comfort levels.